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Sunday, January 27, 2013

The ANC once again has shown that it is incapable of taking criticism and of thinking about the future of South Africa! In just more than a week the ANC, and especially its youth wing (ANCYL) and its Women’s League (ANCWL), bullied First National Bank (FNB) into an apology to the ANC.

I am not a big fan of the Democratic Alliance (DA), but in this case I agree with them. On FNB’s apology to the ANC, DA spokesman Mmusi Maimane said,

“In doing so [apologising] it has shown that it is acceptable to be bullied by the governing party, and it has shown the ANC that its bullying tactics work in suppressing critical voices. Dissenting voices are healthy in a democracy, and the ANC's overblown offense at FNB's advert was inappropriate and petty. But the ease with which FNB is willing to grovel before the ANC and abandon its principled position is equally inappropriate and bad for democracy.” (News24)

By offering an apology to the ANC, FNB has now set a dangerous precedent which will simply embolden the ANC to start bullying more and more businesses into complying with the ANC’s perverted vision for this country in which dissenting voices will end up losing clients and business. This is not healthy for the so-called “democracy” in South Africa, and neither is it healthy for business and foreign investments in South Africa.

“When the ANC was in opposition, it called on business to speak out on issues of national importance. Even in government, the ANC has recently called on business leadership to be more engaged with government and policy issues. In its criticism of the FNB’s advert, the ANC and its alliance partners are now showing intolerance of views which might be uncomfortable and critical... The ruling alliance is free to disagree with and criticize the FNB, but it has done so in a way that is threatening and likely to have a chilling effect on debate and discussion.”

The ANC has ever only done things and allowed those same things as policy that would forward their agenda, while criticizing anyone who dared apply those same policies. Before the ANC came into power in South Africa they were very eager to get foreign countries and entities to criticize the previous government in order to force change in this country. Also, as FXI states that “[w]hen the ANC was in opposition, it called on business to speak out on issues of national importance,” yet now they want FNB to stand down! Today, if any foreign country or entity says anything about how the ANC runs things in this country, they are told to keep their noses out of the affairs of this country! This is two-faced of the ANC!

The ANC has called FNB’s campaign as “treacherous” and treasonous. What is really “treacherous” and treasonous is that the ANC would stifle free speech (and indeed does so on a regular basis)! In an ad campaign in which children are calling for a better life in South Africa, the ANC took it personally and came at FNB with all guns blazing. It is said that politicians must have thick skins, but it seems to me that the ANC is full of a bunch of sissies who can’t handle criticism. As soon as anyone criticizes them, they go on the offensive and go back to their old revolutionary language and tactics. In fact, almost 20 years after they took control of government in this country, they are still speaking of revolution. This kind of talk has brought Zimbabwe into financial and social ruin, and has made Robert Mugabe look like the buffoon he is. If the ANC continues in this trend, that is exactly where they will end up! Sure, they would have had their revolution, but at what cost?

In FNB’s apology to the ANC (AfricanNutCases), they have seriously corroded the ability of businesses being part of the democratic process of free speech and opinion. The ANC has bullied FNB into towing the line, in fact, the ANC has drawn a line in the sand and FNB retreated to behind the line. What prevents the ANC from drawing that line even further back?

What the ripple effect of this is going to be is difficult to predict. Yet, with the ANC’s history of bullying and intimidation through name calling and apartheid era epithets, it is not that difficult to imagine!

If corporate entities want to remain free from the ANC’s grasp, they will all need to stand up on behalf of FNB and start pushing back against the ANC’s line in the sand.

The question is, will they actually stand against the ANC and secure a brighter future for the children of South Africa, or will they remain silent while the freedoms of our citizens are being eroded by an ANC with the attitude of a megalomaniac, wanting to control everything that moves? Time will tell!